Re: [FYI] World's Longest page on tracks vs wheels

At 12:33 AM +0000 1/15/02, Robin Paul wrote:
>
>Is that the tandem-wing beastie with the front wings swept back and the
rear
>wings swept forward, and joined at the tips?  The illustration I saw
looked
>rather good- and rather Gerry Anderson.

Nope, it was an upgrade of the C-5 that added new wings (stronger, 
lighter, better) with a glass cockpit and newer avionics for better 
crew performance, as well as 4 of the engines used of the 777 (GE90s 
or P&W4084s). The new upgrades and changes in desing allowed longer 
flights between re-fueling, faster time to cruising height, and 
faster cruise speeds (at the longer ranges) with a heavier payload (3 
M1s as I recall). They even redesigned the rear doors allowing for 
placement of two large pallets across rather than one for 
simultaneous exit from the aicraft (say a 2.5 ton truck and a 155mm 
howitzer. There was also a concept for a slung from the ceiling 
pallet trapeeze that ran the length of the cargo area for additional 
bulky but low weight cargos.

It was quite a plane and much more there than the C17 was at the 
time. It still had a large degree of commonality with the C-5A and B 
already in the inventory. Cost was lower per unit than the C-17 too.

--
Ryan Gill	  |	   |	     rmgill@mindspring.com
		  |	   |
		  | O--=-  |
		  |_/|o|_\_|
		  / 00DA61 \
	       _w/|=_[__]_= \w_
	      |: O(4) ==    O :|
	      |---\________/---|
	       |‰|\	    /|‰|
	       |‰|=\______/=|‰|
	       |‰|	     |‰|